San Jose Lawsuit Against MLB Could See Delays With Government Shutdown

An artist's rendering of what a downtown San Jose ballpark would look like. (SJ Redevelopment Agency)

SAN JOSE (KCBS)— The shutdown of the federal government could slow San Jose’s ongoing efforts to bring the Oakland A’s to the city because a suit against Major League Baseball is facing possible delays in federal courts.

On Friday, a federal judge is scheduled to hear from both sides in the case and to consider MLB’s request to have the suit tossed out. However, all of that could be delayed due to the government shutdown.

San Jose Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball Could See Delays With Government Shutdown

“We know that some of the federal courts are shutting down, some of them have money to run for a while. We’re just uncertain what’s going to happen in San Jose in this particular case. We hoping to get our hearing though,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed.

According to the Judiciary, the federal courts will remain open for at least another 10 days.

Coincidentally, Mayor Reed is flying to Washington this week as part of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s annual lobbying trip to the nation’s capitol.

“I’ll be meeting with members of Congress in both Houses of Congress and there are quite a few messages that we’ll be delivering. At the top of the list will be [that] we need to get the government back into operation. The shutdown is not good for the economy,” Reed said.

Other issues include immigration reform, the U.S. Patent Office and tax reform; issues Reed said have been put aside due to the government shutdown.

KCBS's Matt Bigler started as a reporter/anchor in 2004, and is now based in San Jose working out of the Silicon Valley Bureau. Matt co-anchors the 5:00am hour with Susan Leigh Taylor in San Francisco, and can also be seen on TV most mornings...